14 June: World Blood Donor day

World Blood Donor Day is being observed across the world on 14 June to raise the public awareness about the need for safe blood donation.

The theme of this year’s campaign is Thank you for saving my life. This year’s campaign encourages donors all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly with the slogan Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters.

Objective

To spread awareness about the need for safe and secure blood supplies.

Provide an opportunity to draw public attention to the importance of blood donation for saving lives.

World Health Organisation (WHO), a nodal agency of UN for international public health has called for increased regular blood donations from voluntary, unpaid donors in order to save millions of lives globally each year.

It should be noted that World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the WHO. The event was established in 2004. It was established in order to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank blood donors for their voluntary donations.